In my family, we call this “Nanner Puddin.” Don’t forget the Southern twang with that phrase, too. My brother and I are goofy though, since neither one of us likes chunks of banana in our pudding…so I had to get creative. I knew that just using banana flavored pudding mix wouldn’t be good enough, so some research began. Looking through several different recipes, I picked what I did and didn’t like between them, and got to work on my little experiment.
I liked the idea of the flavor of real bananas in the pudding, but not a fan of the chunks, so I improvised. My brother and I were chatting about it before I made it, and I told him that there wouldn’t be any chunks. He questioned the ability to have banana pudding with REAL bananas, but without any chunks…even little pieces. I told him that I would try. I did…and it worked. The great thing about this recipe is that if you do want chunks of bananas in with the pudding, you can chop up a couple of extra bananas and layer them in between the pudding and Cool Whip layers. My toddler put the pudding to the test (who absolutely LOVES bananas), and it passed. In fact, she wanted more, and got mad when she couldn’t have extra. The hiccups and big sighs in between bites gave it away that she was already full. 😉
Recipe:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups milk
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 small box instand banana cream pudding mix
8 oz. Cool Whip
Nilla Wafers
Sliced Bananas (optional)
Beat cream cheese, mashed bananas, vanilla and powdered sugar with electric mixer until well-blended. If you don’t want chunks of bananas in the pudding, puree it in a food processor or blender until smooth. Transfer back to mixing bowl, beat with heavy cream, milk and pudding mixes. Set in refrigerator for mixture to thicken. Put Nilla Wafers on bottom of trifle bowl, top with half of pudding mixture. Add another layer of Nilla Wafers, top with half of Cool Whip. Repeat layering, top with more wafers. Store in refrigerator.
*If using extra chunks of banana, place on top of pudding mixture, under layer of Nilla Wafers.
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